Isn’t it funny that you can experience something on a regular basis, but still not know much about it? We should know all about happiness. Most people experience it regularly, we should know exactly what it’s like and how it behaves. But maybe we don’t pay as much attention as we think.
When a computer manufacturer build a new PC, they subject it to various tests, and produce a specification based on its attributes – things like processing speed, memory capacity and so on. A similar thing can be done with happiness. Using the data that has been collected by researchers, we can create a specification of human happiness. Here’s an idea of how happiness performs under different conditions.
1) The Progress Principle
The progress principle is the science behind the famous saying “it’s the journey, not the destination, that counts.” In The Happiness Hypothesis
I really wanted to get a first in my psychology degree. I screwed up the first year and a half, work-wise, and wanted to make up for it. So I worked hard in the final three semesters. My marks got better and better, and my average started to rise up to the magical 70% target. The final grade I got, for my dissertation, pushed me over the 70% mark. But when I got that result back, I wasn’t jumping for joy; it was more like relief at that point.
Happiness results from taking a step in a beneficial direction, not from standing still at any particular point. The feeling of the final step is weaker than the previous steps, because the part of the brain associated with positive emotions (left prefrontal cortex) reduces its activity once you reach a goal. We need the progress principle so that we stay motivated. If all the happiness came at the destination rather than the journey, where would our motivation come from?
2) The Adaptation of Happiness
The principle of adaptation is quite interesting. The theory states that it is changes in circumstances, not their absolute condition that affects happiness. The happiness we experience is based on a comparison between our current state, and the one we have adapted to.
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I like this, because it supports my feeling that many aspects of modern life are futile. This might sound a bit cynical, but you get that way after you’ve seen Fight Club about 48 times. Actually, in homage to this mindset I had the back of my ipod engraved with a line from that film: “The things you own, end up owning you” (the irony is deliberate).
Lottery winners, perhaps the luckiest people of all, become extremely happy after winning. They are free, their sex appeal immediately increases, and they can do or buy whatever they want. But over time, they adapt to the high life, and their happiness returns to about where it was before. On the other hand, quadriplegics lose a lot of happiness initially. But over time, even they adapt to their situation; their goals and expectations change and their happiness returns to almost the point it was originally.
In many ways, unfortunately, this is in direct opposition to how modern life is set up. The deal is simple; you get the money, the clothes, the big house, and the nice car, and then bang! Well done champ, you made it, you’ll be happy forever. But no! In reality, you make it, and you are happy for a while. Then you adapt, your expectations rise, and you suddenly want more again. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a better life for yourself and your family, but purely from the point of view of happiness, it’s pretty pointless. You’ll adapt.
3) Happiness Broadens your Thoughts and Behaviours
Negative emotions have a purpose. If someone transgresses against you, you become angry, so that you can retaliate and discourage future transgressions. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, anxiety will help you avoid the same situation in the future. The purpose of negative emotions is to focus your attention, make you aware of things that are very important, and get you to take appropriate action. It’s a safety mechanism – you’re mind thinks you’re in trouble and cuts off access to other states to make you react more quickly.
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In this sense, there are no ‘negative’ emotions. As an example, eyewitnesses to a violent attack can often describe the weapon used in detail, but remember little about what the assailant looked like. When there’s a dangerous maniac around, you need to know that he’s carrying a knife, and where exactly that knife is at all times; not whether he matched his shoes with his belt that day.
Positive emotions have the opposite effect. Rather than narrowing our attention, they broaden it. Instead of reducing the number of thoughts that enter your head, or the restricting your behaviours, these repertoires are increased. So when your happier, you’re more creative, flexible and more open to new information. (1)
4) Wanting is a Separate Thing to Liking
Daniel Nettle’s book Happiness
It is mainly through studies of drugs that we know this. In one study, heroin addicts were asked to press a lever 3,000 times to receive one of three possible injections – a low dose of morphine, a moderate dose of morphine, or just saline. Then they were asked to rate how much they enjoyed each shot. The group that received saline wouldn’t not press the lever again; they did not find the injection to be pleasurable. In the group that received a moderate dose, they found the injection pleasurable and went on to work the lever for another shot. But the group receiving only a low dose was the interesting one. They too press the lever again, to get another shot – even though they did not find the dose high enough to be pleasurable. It was enough to trigger the wanting system, but not the liking system.
People are not always after pleasure. We also look for status, power, creativity, meaning, and lots of other complicated things. The implication is, something that gives us a little advancement in one of these areas might activate the wanting system, but not the liking system. This might lead us to strive after things that we want, even though we know from past experience that we don’t like them once we get them. Without awareness of this, we might end up making the same mistakes over and over.
Recommended Reading:
References
(1) Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology. American Psychologist. 56 (3), 218-226.
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